Erdogan wins a crushing victory. Turkey is in his hands

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has won the parliamentary elections of the 1st of November against all odds. All polls in fact indicated the AKP not exceeding 40%, whilst official results said Erdogan’s party won 49.4% of votes. It gained 316 out of 550 seats, being thus able to form a government on its own.

Because of 14 seats, the AKP didn’t manage to reach the threshold of 330 seats that would have allowed it to call a referendum on changing the constitution. With 367 seats, the government would have been even able to change it directly. The striking success of the party led by Erdogan caused a fierce delusion of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). The HDP, which leads the Kurdish minority, despite having exceeded the threshold of 10% (10.7%) to enter the parliament, didn’t repeat the great success obtained in June elections (13%). The HDP thus gained only 59 seats. Similarly, the right-wing Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) won 5% less than in June, gaining only 41 seats in parliament.

Not a single one of the pollsters showed AKP >45%. Either this is a huge upset or the early results are way off. pic.twitter.com/TuDcd2iq8N

Elections have shown that people “prefer action and development to controversy, and had given proof of their strong desire for the unity and integrity,” said Erdogan. HDP supporters’ disappointment triggered clashes with the police. Such clashes previously allowed, according to analysts, the AKP winning the votes of the right-wing party and the HDP not having success. Some initially thought that the Kurdish party would have exceeded 15%. But that simply was not what happened.

The strategy of tension and clashes with Kurdish rebels carried out by the government ahead of election, particularly in the city Kurds consider to be their capital, Silvan, had the results desired. But in place of strengthening the HDP (the main left-wing opposition party – Republican People’s Party, CHP – remained on 25%), convinced the right-wing extremists to believe in Erdogan’s words, made of nationalism, unity and internal stability to be reached at any cost. Even through violence.